One of the biggest problems we face as business owners is getting customers to buy what we are selling.
This is why we try as much as possible to reach out to a larger audience. This means we get a higher number of prospects and in turn, more customers.
Lead generation is one of the effective ways to get the right prospect looking your way, and one of the most effective ways of doing this is by using a lead magnet.
What is a lead magnet?
In simple terms, a lead magnet is something valuable that you give can give your prospects for free in exchange for their contact information.
If you go on most websites, you will see a pop up offering an e-book, checklist or coupon. And for you to get those, you have to input your email.
That is a lead magnet.
Why do you need a lead magnet?
A lead magnet is one of the effective and cost-free ways of getting leads for your business.
Even though they may not buy at that point, however, you can keep on engaging them until they do.
Getting people to drop their email is not an easy task. No one will give you their contact information just because you asked them to.
This is why you need to give them something valuable in exchange for it.
For example: If you tell a woman with skin blemishes, that you have a checklist of things she could do every day that will give her a spotless skin, she will be very willing to drop her email.
This is more effective than just asking her to give you her email.
Elements of a lead magnet that converts
You do not want to create just any lead magnet but one that gets your prospects dropping their email address.
Whatever lead magnet you are creating should have these qualities:
1. It should fit right into your funnel
Now, this is for you, not your lead – because your lead magnet also has to work for business. If not, creating one will be useless.
Your lead magnet has to fit right into your funnel.
Ask yourself: after the lead magnet, what is your next offer? Whatever you are offering next has to be the next logical need in your customer’s journey.
Each step in your funnel needs to have a seamless flow. So, you can easily take your lead from dropping their email to actually buying your product.
If you do not understand how a funnel works, this should help => How to Build a Sales Funnel That Converts for Your Business
2. It should solve a need
This is where value comes in.
It should be able to solve the problem that your ideal customer has. You should know the challenges your audience is facing and create a lead magnet that will proffer a solution to that problem.
3. It should present a quick win for your prospect
One of the things that makes a lead magnet attractive to your prospect is the ability to not only help them achieve something but achieve it quickly.
It has to promise and give them a quick win if they try it out.
4. It should be short and easy to digest
Lead magnets that are short tend to perform better.
You do not want to give your prospect something that will make them feel overwhelmed. So, depending on your niche, make it as short and easy to read.
If you are going with an e-book, make it a very short one.
5. It should be something they can get instantly
People want instant gratification.
No one wants a checklist that will be sent to their email in three days’ time. They want it now. So, make sure it is something they can have instant access to.
6. It has to be very specific
Your lead magnet should not be something general, everyone can use.
It should be specific to a need or problem that your ideal customer wants to be fixed. Your prospects will be more willing to drop their email if you are specific about the benefits they will get.
7. It should reflect your unique selling proposition
Your unique selling proposition is what makes you stand out from your competitors. Your lead magnet should reflect that.
The content of your lead magnet should be drafted in such a way that your prospect will be more convinced of buying from you than buying from your competitors.
How to create a lead magnet that converts
Let’s get down to business. Here is how to create a lead magnet that coverts for your business:
1. Figure out what is valuable to your prospects
The main feature of a lead magnet is that it must be valuable. How do you figure out what your prospect finds valuable?
a. Identify your buyer’s persona
Your lead magnet should not be aimed at attracting too many people but attracting the right people.
That is why it should be specific to the people you want it to attract.
Ask yourself: who is your ideal customer? What do they want? What is their most pressing need? What are their desires and goals? etc.
You need to have all these in place first before you begin creating your lead magnet.
b. Check out what your audience is interested in
To be able to give a very valuable lead magnet, you have to be sure that your prospect is actually interested in it.
Do not just guess this. let the statistics show.
Go back to your blog and check each article. Which article has the most traffic? Which article has the most likes, comments or shares?
This should help you figure out what your audience cares about and you can create your lead magnet around the content of these articles.
c. Learn from your competitors
If you have a new website and do not have enough stats to help you figure out what your audience is interested in, you should check out what your competitors are offering.
Check out their main lead magnets. And you can go ahead to check out their most shared posts (tools like BuzzSumo should help with this).
Even if you have enough stats from your blog, you can use this to validate yours.
d. Ask your readers
While you are racking your brain about what your audience wants, why don’t you just ask them?
Go to your email list, and talk to your audience there.
They are already subscribed to you, so to some extent, they are interested in what you are offering.
Send an email asking them what they will like you to talk about, how they would like you to improve your post, what is bugging them and how you can help.
You could ask them to suggest the topic for your next post
This is very effective. The fact that your asking for their opinions matters and they will be willing to talk.
Use the suggestions you get to help draft your lead magnet.
2. Create your headline
Now that you have an idea what your audience wants. You can now go ahead to create, but first, your headline.
The headline is one of the most important parts of your lead magnet.
It is what determines if they will click on your CTA button or not. It greatly influences your lead magnet’s conversion rate.
Make sure your headline appeals to your audience and also has the benefit of the lead magnet in it.
3. Choose what kind of lead magnet to use
So, when your headline attracts your audience and they click on your CTA button, what type of lead magnet should they be expecting.
There are countless options of lead magnets. You can use something similar to that of your competitors or do something different.
You can go for any of these options:
- Checklist
- Discount
- Quiz/ surveys
- Tool kit
- Assessment/test
- Free trial
- Sales material
- e-book
- webinar
These are just few lead magnets you can opt for. Pick which one suits your niche the most and go for it.
4. Go ahead in creating the content for your lead magnet
It is time to start creating.
Makes sure the content in your lead magnet is what your prospect wants and finds valuable. That should be the number one thing on your mind while you are creating it.
Look for examples of lead magnets (they type you are creating) to help guide you in creating yours.
The information you got from your competitors should also come in handy here.
In conclusion,
You need to create a lead magnet, if you do not have one.
Leads eventually become customers. You can have more than one lead magnets. The main thing is they are converting.
Do not just create one, create a few. Then, test and keep testing, until you find the lead magnet that is perfect for your business.
It is only through testing you can be sure which lead magnet is converting and which is not.
If you have any suggestions or questions, please leave a comment and I will answer as soon as I can.
